


a magi's tale

by peachgyus



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Video Game World, Fantasy, Fluff, M/M, is this considered slow burn idek, minor taeten only because i am trash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:33:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23687713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachgyus/pseuds/peachgyus
Summary: doyoung wakes up in another world and jaehyun introduces him to the fanciful world of jord. will he be able to go back home or will he choose to stay?
Relationships: Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung, Lee Taeyong/Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten
Comments: 9
Kudos: 45





	a magi's tale

**Author's Note:**

  * For [redkarma](https://archiveofourown.org/users/redkarma/gifts).



> a short isekai fic for redkarma for their birthday. what can i say? all those times i was trying to talk to you about nct's personality and mmorpgs and shit actually led to this mess. i hope you like it even for a bit? i tried my best to capture as much of their personalities as i can. happy birthday bitch!
> 
> also, this is my first published fic for nct and forgive me if some of the characterization is off. i tried my best and i'll do them justice in the future!
> 
> p.s  
> i didn't include much of the other kingdoms in this fic but hopefully i can write more about this should i write more for nct
> 
> pps.  
> pls don't kill me
> 
> ppps.  
> this is unbeta'ed

doyoung gasps.

with a shock that goes through his body, he sits up with eyes wide with his chest heaving as he tries to inhale and exhale as much air as he could. while he does so, he takes a look around his surroundings. 

he’s in a church. a massive church with colorful intricate stained glass illustrations of angels singing and playing various golden instruments. he looks up, seeing the illustration of a globe in the middle and twelve different beings surrounding it. strangely enough, they have pointed ear tips and as far as he can tell, this doesn’t seem like an ordinary church.

when he stands up, he turns around to see the altar and a golden statue of a woman with the same pointed ear tips. she's wearing a simple white and flowy dress while holding a sword with letters he couldn’t make out. he would have to walk closer to it to have a full view but he didn't have time to do that.

the church is awfully quiet and one look outside the stained glass windows lets him know that it’s dark so that’s probably why. as he brushes the dust off of his pants, he tries to remember why he’s here. the last thing he remembers is telling taeil to lend him his earphones since his broke so he can play games without having to hear his mom nag endlessly about him going to grad school. 

but that didn’t explain _why_ he is here. 

"what did you get yourself into?" he asks himself with a heavy sigh.

the tall wooden doors of the church suddenly opens when he’s a few steps away from it. although he doesn’t know why, doyoung feels a surge of panic and adrenaline shoots through his veins, allowing him to run towards the nearest pew, ducking and hiding from whoever it is that just entered the building.

footsteps echo in the empty church and doyoung covers his mouth to prevent himself from speaking.

“... wah… the sensor definitely said someone spawned here…” the voice says out loud.

he -- or it? what the heck is he thinking? -- didn’t sound too ominous. but from what doyoung can tell he’s in an unfamiliar place and he doesn’t want to take any chances. the world is a dangerous place in general and that's honestly why he likes staying indoors. plus, he doesn't need to deal with a lot of people which is a bonus.

“kim doyoung. screen name is doieuyu. level twenty-five. archer class. origin: unknown. species...human? huh. no wonder the sensor picked him up.” 

doyoung hears the person sigh and the creak of one of the pews in front of him. whoever just entered the church has sat down. does he knows he’s still here? what is this sensor he’s talking about? why does he know his details? and what about him being human is bad? at least, that’s what he’s assuming considering the surprised tone he had when he said ‘human’. doyoung looks back at the stained glass decorations of the church.

maybe those are monsters?

it’s probably best if he makes a run for it now. maybe this stranger is praying or something but he doesn’t feel good about this at all. who knows what this person might tdo to him? what if he's here to kill him? why else would he know everything about him? slowly, he starts crawling out of the pew and towards the door. however, just as he was about to, he hears a gust of wind and sees a pair of boots in front of him.

“gotcha,” the person in front of him says.

doyoung tries to think of ways he could escape all the while slowly looking up to see who will eat and kill him or vice versa.

a bed or blue hair, an amused smile and kind eyes gaze on him and offers him a hand. what doyoung presumed to be a monster instead looks as if he could take him to heaven instead. he notes the pointed ears hiding behind locks of hair as he sits up. gone is the feeling of fear at the uncertainty. it is as clear as day that this person, whoever he is, is not here to hurt him.

“we’ve been looking for you,” the man says as he smiles more, dimples showing.

doyoung doesn’t take the hand, still cautious and takes a step back to have some form of distance between them. “who is we?” he asks carefully.

“the guild,” he answers patiently. “we got instructions from the guild leader that you spawned here instead of the church in aker. this place is crawling with black widows especially at night. it's good you stayed inside.”

“hold on. hold on. black widows? as in _spiders_? and who are you? what is this place? who’s your guild leader?”

doyoung is answered with an amused laugh, shaking his head. “you _do_ know you can know that by using your user menu right? look down at the lower right. there’s a blue crystal icon there.”

as irked as he is by how much this man in front of him is laughing at him and making him feel completely stupid, he does as he’s told and looks down at his lower right. as he said, there's a blue crystal icon that's shining there. focusing his attention there, his vision changes and he sees a holographic screen with different buttons for his inventory, character stats, map, friends list, guild and he suddenly remembers.

this is exactly what that game he borrowed from taeil looks like.

a cold chill runs down his spine. 

“you can go to guild and navigate to members. then online.”

doyoung does as he’s told mutely. so this person’s name is jaehyun and he’s a level thirty five warrior. strangely enough, he doesn't have a handle but doyoung thinks that he's probably one of those beta testers who got to play the game before it's released so they have the nicknames everyone wants. albeit using his real name is pretty lazy on his party. they’re part of the 'neozone' guild together under someone called taeyong with the username nctae. he’s a level forty two knight, higher than jaehyun's level. there are other members in the guild but he couldn’t care to look at them. at this time, all he wants to know is how he can leave.

“i shouldn’t be here,” he says out loud, closing the menu. “i should go back.”

“yeah, that’s what i was saying! let’s go back to the base. everyone’s waiting--”

“NOT HERE!” doyoung snaps, clutching at his shirt, supposedly but instead he’s grabs onto steels. he looks down, realizing he’s wearing steel armor. “what kind of ridiculous joke is this?”

“i’m not joking. i-- we really need to go back. are you okay, doyoung?”

maybe it’s because all of this is too much. or maybe the amount of adrenaline is making him go crazy and think illogical thoughts. but doyoung pushes jaehyun out of the way and makes a run for the door. maybe taeil is just pranking him and this is some weird party where they’re all dressed like their in game characters. he has to hand it to the other, he really did make a huge effort to make everything seem real.

pushing the doors open, he is greeted by the chilly night air and high pitched screeching sounds that he knows aren’t human.

trees hide them well but doyoung could see them. small beady red eyes, hairy legs and at the size of a small child. these aren’t your usual spiders.

“doyoung!” jaehyun calls out, running after him and pulls him inside the church again. “don’t take a step further or you’ll step outside the safe zone!”

_ this isn’t real. _

once jaehyun pulled doyoung inside the church again, he closed the doors tight and let out a sigh of relief. 

doyoung is certain that wherever he is, this isn't some prank now. this is real. when jaehyun touched him, he felt it. the grip on his wrist hurt as he's being pulled inside. what's more, there are _actual_ monsters out there. and if it weren't for jaehyun pulling him back inside the church, he knows he could have been eaten by the monsters that lurk outside. jaehyun's right. the outside is crawling with black widows and they aren't the ones he's seen in youtube videos back home but much bigger and scarier. they could probably kill him instantly with their venom.

a shudder ripples through his body and he looks up at jaehyun. he's looking down at him, obviously concerned. doyoung is concerned too. why is he the only one reacting this way? why is jaehyun okay with being at this place that he could comfortably talk about it without freaking out?

"are you calm enough?" jaehyun asks as he plops down the floor. "would you like to listen now?"

doyoung snorts. "do you i have a choice? you're the only one with answers here."

nodding, jaehyun laughs and holds his palm up. doyoung watches, just because he has nothing else to do, and sees jaehyun holding a small round device with what looked like a button. jaehyun presses the button and it turns around, showing a lens which lights up with a bleep. a small holographic map not larger than two combined a4 sized papers is shown, transparent but in full color and 3d at that. amazed, doyoung leans closer.

"welcome to jord! it's beautiful right? we have seven kingdoms, each as unique as the other. by the way, i'm an elf. the majority of our kingdom are elves. i'm not like you guys. right now, we are in azalea where heroes, adventurers, what have you primarily stay and train to serve the kingdom for the majority of their lives. the others are megaera, auster. kon, vaust, nor, and sydne. although we can't go there just yet."

most of this doyoung already knew from reading the cut scenes from the game when he was starting it so he lets jaehyun speak and point at where each kingdom is located. it seems like he's enjoying himself and maybe doyoung will find out how he can go home if he pays attention.

doyoung knows that the game takes place hundreds of years after a treaty was signed. this treaty ensures that each kingdom cooperates and doesn’t use magic (or magi, as they call it) for fire and dark magi. it is considered taboo to use this ever since the ‘war of the great nor’ where black magic and fire magic ruined the kingdom and caused despair.

magical relics called the elder scrolls were also created by a group of powerful elves named the ‘alder’ in order to absorb and contain excess magi. these scrolls also contain spells and instructions on how to create, lift and break the seals and are considered sacred magical items. in the game, the main character’s objective is to learn each spell in this scroll and defeat the dragon created by megaera that is used as a weapon to rule over all of jord.

however, the other kingdoms are accessible after certain levels as they have higher level monsters and as far as doyoung remembers, he hasn’t left the kingdom of azalea as of yet in the game. other than heal, he hasn’t learned any superb spells either. what if he needs to finish this game in order to get out? how many more levels does he need to level up in order to finish?

doyoung’s head aches.

"that's it! now, our base is located in the city of aker. you look tired, so we can use this town teleportation discs to get us there." jaehyun lets the map disappear from his palms and it's soon replaced by two discs. they're as thin as a smartphone and blink with three small white lights on the upper left. he hands one to doyoung. confused, he looks up to see jaehyun pressing a button on the side of the device. he does the same and the holographic map of azalea greets him. it’s actually much bigger than he thought with around 127 cities. he selects aker and watches as the white lights beep one by one turning into blue. once the third light turns blue, he feels the pull of gravity.

once he blinks again, he finds himself in another church, this one is much smaller than the other one he woke up in. a rush of adrenaline fills him again and he looks around, trying to find jaehyun. as if knowing his panic, jaehyun taps him on the shoulder from behind and smiles. 

“i’m here. let’s go?” 

he follows jaehyun outside and instead of the darkness with red beady eyes and hairy legs, he sees a lively village. different scents, sounds and colors from the one he’s used to greets him. as they walk, he takes note of the array of stalls selling different kinds of food and trinkets, sellers calling to anyone who passes them cheerfully. there are also restaurants and bars open that play lively music. what doyoung also notices is that all of the people they passed by had pointy ears. elves. 

the upbeat music coming from a guitar causes him to be a bit curious. he tries to follow the sound to know who's singing but jaehyun pulls at his wrist before he could. doyoung pulls his wrist free from his grasp and glares at him for touching him rather than stopping him from going.

as much has jaehyun as helped him, he doesn’t know who to trust in this world. and something tells him that jaehyun hasn’t told him everything he knows.

after a few dizzying turns and pushing past the crowd, they stand in front of what looked like a tavern with a sign that says 'kun's inn'. from what he can see, there are two floors. each room has their lights on but the one with the open window. before he can ask, jaehyun had already walked towards the door and pushes them open, shouting, "i got him, boss!"

the inn smells heavily of curry. doyoung's stomach rumbles and he licks his lips, stomach growling. inside, it is empty except for him and jaehyun who find a seat. jaehyun did refer to this as the base so maybe only those part of the guild can enter. upon checking, he sees a flight of stairs which he reckons leads to the rooms. maybe he can hole himself inside his room after eating. can he even eat, sleep or shit in this world? 

sighing, he shakes his head and looks at jaehyun who sits down after grabbing water for the two of them. thankfully, he chugs it down and sits adjacent him. it tastes like normal water albeit a bit saltier. but he's not complaining. he can at least taste it. hopefully he can taste the food too.

"say, jaehyun. what do you mean with ‘the rest of you’?” doyoung asks. it’s been nagging him since earlier how jaehyun phrased that. and again, when jaehyun mentioned he’s human.

“oh, you noticed that.” jaehyun laughs nervously, not meeting doyoung’s gaze.

“answer--”

“he means those who come from earth and are now stuck in this game.”

doyoung turns around and looks at the source of the voice. this is probably the one called taeyong carrying a tray of two steaming hot curries. doyoung notes how he looks approachable, doe eyes sparkling and smile charming. he had expected someone older looking and even more buff but he couldn’t be that much older than he is.

once taeyong serves the curry, he takes a seat beside doyoung and grins. “you look unscathed at least. terrified, but unscathed.”

“don’t talk to me as if we’re friends and tell me what’s going on,” doyoung says as calmly as he could but he’s gripping the edge of the table .

“eat first,” taeyong answers. “i worked hard to cook that.”

“you’ll need your energy to hear what taeyong will say,” jaehyun chirps in and starts digging in.

looking down, doyoung he doesn’t know what will happen next but doyoung picks up the spoon and starts eating. the very first bite almost moves doyoung to tears. he swallows and continues to eat until his plate is clean. the warmth from the food spreads throughout his body. so he was feeling this cold all the time? he didn’t even notice. 

after he finished eating, taeyong fills him in. the game is called 'a magi’s tale'. it’s a vr game that got its cult following first through a couple of twitch streamers. strangely enough, they had received the game through email and after being sure that it isn’t some virus, they beta tested it. once its official release came out, everything seemed normal for months. it got a lot of hate for having an outdated user interface and battle system from the mainstream gaming community. but other than that, it was just a normal game.

“people started disappearing,” taeyong continues. “the police and media tried to connect the dots but the only thing they had in common was that they were playing a magi’s tale. due to the turn of events. download links were automatically made inaccessible. the government did everything in its power to mask it as a mass kidnapping. no concrete evidence could back up the case and so it was marked as unsolved. it’s been a year since i got here and i thought i was going to be the last. but then you started playing.”

doyoung stares at the table, trying to process everything. he then looks up at taeyong’s serious face and jaehyun’s. “no wonder you were so persistent to add me to your guild…” he says, hands clenching onto fists on top of the table. 

“yeah… there are others from the real world in this guild. i wanted everyone to have a safe haven until we find out how to get out of here.”

“have you tried killing yourself to get out of here?”

a brief moment of silence falls among the three. doyoung’s gaze is unfaltering as he looks at taeyong for answers. to him, it sounded logical. if they are stuck in the game, they could just get killed by a monster and get it over with. they’ll wake up in their rooms or the computer shop after, right?

“if you die here, you die,” taeyong answers, jaw tightening. “this is our reality now.”

“but--”

the doors burst open suddenly and they all turn their heads to see who entered the inn. taeyong stands up and is grinning as he greets the batch of new faces. 

“you guys are back,” taeyong greets, kissing the cheek of the shortest of the three. upon checking, the person’s name is ten and he’s a level thirty-seven assassin. he’s clad in light armor, all black from head to toe and has two daggers on thigh holsters while also carrying two twin blades. 

the tallest of the bunch is johnny and he excitedly relays the result of their recent dungeon crawl. even before doyoung checks his user stats, it’s clear to him that he’s a healer clad in a white robe with golden accents. underneath his robe, he’s wearing light silver armor with a golden star symbol as well and wields a white staff. he’s a level forty healer and the one right beside him who’s staring at doyoung is yuta. he walks to the table, putting his helm on top of it, and greets jaehyun before sitting beside him. 

“yongie, i didn’t know our lost puppy is actual this cute,” he says, flashing doyoung a brilliant and flirty smile. doyoung, flustered, looks away immediately. out of everyone so far, he’s wearing the heaviest armor from head to toe with the same golden accents as johnny’s robe and the same golden star symbol in the middle of his breastplate. a white knight.

only ten and jaehyun have pointed ears. the rest are just like him and taeyong.

new plates with curry are served and all talk about going back home is temporarily pushed to the side. when doyoung asks why, jaehyun shakes his head. 

neozone often goes on dungeon crawls to gather crownes (the currency of jord), materials to craft with and also raise guide and individual experience. johnny leveled up twice today and gained his certification in order to advance his class after five more levels ups. the twin blades ten is holding comes from the twentieth level dungeon boss and increases his dexterity as well as attack. lastly, yuta leveled up enough to use his certificate and officially became a white knight. 

“we got you guys a few things too. but it’s late and we’re exhausted. we’ll go through the loot together tomorrow,” johnny says, patting his stomach with a content smile.

ten and taeyong are apparently a couple and like a sleepy cat, ten is resting his head against taeyong’s shoulder as he speaks. “yup, i think we have a golden bow and a set of arrows to give doyoung too.”

“right!” jaehyun chimes in, arching a brow at doyoung.

“what?” doyoung asks. he completely zoned out for a few moments there. 

yuta leans closer from the other side of the table, smiling. “i said, we’re going on a date tomorrow.”

doyoung laughs awkwardly, sending a look of ‘help’ to jaehyun. the other seems to be confused at first but caught the meaning after a few tries.

“i’m actually going to go with doyoung tomorrow to buy his gear. oh and uh… he wants to turn in now since it’s been a long and confusing day.” jaehyun glances at doyoung for approval and the other tries not to laugh.

“that’s okay,” taeyong says with a kind smile, running his fingers through ten’s hair. “go ahead. freshen up and rest. i think we all need it.”

with that, jaehyun and doyoung stand up and bid the others goodnight. jaehyun first goes to the stock room where he gets doyoung a light linen tunic and a pair of shorts made from the same material. there aren’t any towels but he’s given a thick cloth that absorbs water easily instead.

just as he’s about to leave jaehyun, the other grabbed him by the arm. “taeyong’s been working hard so everyone gets home. with what he’s been through, he could have easily broken down but he is still fighting. please trust in his leadership.”

doyoung looks down, nodding. “i don’t have much of a choice, do i?”

jaehyun lets him go and bids goodnight. doyoung simply thanks him and walks towards the shower where he spends a good time in, letting the cold water shock the tiredness out of his body. shivering, he walks to the room that’s been given to him. it’s empty aside from the bed and a desk with a single lamp. the window faces towards the shopping district he and jaehyun crossed to get here.

as much as he’s curious of how it looks like at night, the bed calls to him and thankfully, so does sleep.

three months pass by.

time flows faster in this world and under taeyong’s leadership, doyoung gets his second class certification from an archer to a sharpshooter and is now level thirty eight. taeyong made sure that doyoung comes with them during their weekly dungeon crawls and also fight monsters outside the city. his companions are usually jaehyun and yuta. being a white knight, yuta has the ability to cast white magic as well as use his sword for close combat. 

meanwhile, doyoung has picked up a few things as well. the sharpshooter class granted him further range and with his increased agility, he can shoot a flurry of arrows right after the other. it’s proven useful especially for multiple enemies at a time. however, this did mean that his close range attacks were weaker. this is when jaehyun and yuta swoop in usually and they make a pretty balanced team.

except, yuta’s flirting has not died down a tiny bit ever since they got here. doyoung’s mind is completely focused on getting home. romance is far from it but doyong quickly realizes that this is just how yuta is. so he doesn’t take him too seriously. because aside from that, he’s actually a pretty decent guy. when he doesn’t turn on the charm at full blast, he and doyoung could talk about a few things and agree.

however, things are different with jaehyun.

jaehyun is too close, sometimes. it makes doyoung uncomfortable. he would always sit beside doyoung when they eat, or compliment him when he does well on their quests. he’d go out of his way to back hug him especially if he’s zoned out or drag him outside on gloomy days so he can show doyoung there’s always something to see in aker.

sometimes-- well, all of the time, doyoung wonders if there’s more to jaehyun’s actions. just thinking about it makes his face feel hot and his insides feel like jelly. 

today, jaehyun and doyoung are left alone in the inn. it’s their turn to clean now while the others go out to do some shopping. at first, it’s just him and jaehyun doing all the cleaning quietly but after a good hour or two, they sit down while doyoung makes them iced lemonade.

“say, doyoung,” jaehyun calls out. 

“yeah?” 

jaehyun takes a moment to form the words, doyoung glancing at him from the kitchen sink. he’s leaning against one of the counters, tossing a lemon up in the air and catching it.

“would you leave right away if taeyong comes back and says that he’s found a way for you guys to go home?”

“of course,” doyoung answers within a millisecond while squeezing the last lemon. “it’s what we’re all working towards right?”

holding the lemon gingerly, jaehyun nods. “yeah. but… you wouldn’t hesitate, huh?”

_ this is getting weird _ , doyoung thinks and drops the lemon against the cutting board. he crosses his arms against his chest, looking at jaehyun seriously. “spit it out, jaehyun.”

surprised, jaehyun looks up at him then shrugs while laughing. “i’m just asking. why do you look so serious suddenly?”

“because you’re asking a question you know the answer to.  _ of course _ , i’m going home. i have family and a life there. this is not where i belong.” doyoung turns around and mixes the lemonade one last time, the ice clinking in the pitcher. “i’m sure taeyong feels the same.”

once he finished tasting the lemonade, he turns around and sees jaehyun isn’t there anymore.

_ what’s with him? _

the rest of the cleaning doyoung does alone. he doesn’t mind, since he needs time to think of why exactly jaehyun is reacting the way he is. it’s almost as if he doesn’t want doyoung to leave which is ridiculous considering how much he’s helped in the process. 

when the guys came back, their aura seemed different. doyoung looks for taeyong but is quickly overwhelmed by the look of horror and shock in johnny, yuta and ten’s faces. jaehyun comes back around that time and doyoung pleads using his eyes. he’s been asking them what had happened since they walked through the door but not one of them answer.

maybe jaehyun can get the answer out of them.

doyoung leaves them to talk and goes back to his room. 

what happened? why is taeyong not with them? they are just supposed to go shopping. but why did they have their armor on? why was there blood? whose blood is it? doyoung places his palm against the wall for support, slowly sitting down on the edge of this bed.

_ no, it can’t be. _

doyoung quickly opens the guild menu and goes to the member tab to see if what he’s thinking is right.

taeyong’s name isn’t there anymore.

he felt coldness spread throughout his body, covering his mouth to stop himself from making any sounds.

last month, doyoung had been invited inside taeyong’s room. in comparison to his, this had more decorations on the wall. when doyoung approaches it, they’re all theories on how to get out of the game.

one way is to level up to max and defeat the supposed evil that will wreck havoc in jord. the other is to communicate with other players who are in earth right now and ask for help so they could be saved. there’s a list of usernames that have been marked with an x. although he didn’t could, he was sure there were over a hundred. the third method is getting killed by a monster. there, too, were a list of usernames and one of them stuck out to him. ‘kun’. the original owner of the inn.

“why’d you ask me here?” doyoung asked, sitting on the bed. 

taeyong’s stared out from the window, leaning against the wall with a smile.

“kun was the first. he came just a few weeks before me and he helped me get used to everything. usually, we don’t get to buy a house or anything of the sort in the game. but kun earned a lot of crownes and bought this inn off of the npc

“he was a good guy. we hit it off easily. he was a year younger than me in real life and he was actually the reason why i met ten. we were the trio back then, leveling up, making mistakes but also memories. at first, he and i forgot that we shouldn’t be here. at least, i thought we did. it was pretty fun, you know. there’s so much of azalea to see and it felt like every day, you can choose how to live your life. no restrictions or rules. after a few more levels, i created this guild because he and i saw an increase of people like us. he said they all needed a place to call home and so this became their home.

“but then,” taeyong paused, his jaw clenching. “he said we should go meet the level forty dungeon boss. he heard from someone that after facing that, the player disappeared and appeared a few days after to send a message to his friend. so we went knowing it was a suicide mission. only us.”

doyoung watched as taeyong looked away from the window and saw the pain in his eyes reflected by the moon’s glow while he looked at him.

“he died. he was too stubborn. wouldn’t listen when i told him we should run. after that, i haven’t seen him again. there were no pms about him coming back to earth. and ever since then, i have been working to find out another way to go back.”

“it… i don’t know what to say,” doyoung answered truthfully. “but why--”

taeyong grinned, back to his old self oddly fast, and walked towards doyoung to pat him on the back. “i’m telling you because i couldn’t that day. and so you would know that we’re trying our best every day to get closer to home. i’m sure we’ll be able to do it.”

upon remembering this, doyoung shoots up from the bed and opens his door only to find jaehyun standing in front of it, fist in their air as if he’s about to knock. 

“you know,” jaehyun says softly.

“i do. he… he sounded as if he would never do that. after kun…” doyoung tries to think back to other signs of why taeyong did it. “he said…”

“taeyong… he left you a note. i came to deliver that then i’ll be back to comfort ten. you don’t need to go down. he doesn’t want to make you worry.”

doyoung nods, taking the piece of parchment from jaehyun and sits back down on the bed. it takes him a few minutes before he reads it, pushing back the dread. 

> _ to doie, _
> 
> _ by the time you receive this, i would have done it already. remember when i told you about kun? i’m doing a kun. i’ve been thinking about it a lot. honestly, don’t tell ten but my heart hurts leaving him behind. i don’t think i’ll ever meet someone like him in any world other than in game. he knows already that i want to do this. because you see, kun sent me a pm the other day. _

eyes widening, doyoung hurriedly reads the rest of the letter. apparently, the level forty dungeon boss had a glitch, a loophole in the game. hit it enough times and lower its hp bar up to halfway and he’ll stop moving for a few seconds. in those few seconds, a small pixelated black hole will pop up behind him and this apparently leads back to earth.

according to kun, there are side effects to this. he was in a coma until recently and sent taeyong a pm the moment he was given the permission to go back home. taeyong instructed doyoung to wait and level up as much as he can before facing the boss. at the time, taeyong was level fifty three which should suffice. only one can go at each time once the glitch appears so they have to do it one by one.

a light of hope ignites in doyoung. since jaehyun told him not to go down, he simply spends the night rereading taeyong’s letter until he falls asleep. he’ll need the energy for what is about to come.

two weeks later, they each receive a message from taeyong using a new account. he’d been in a coma for two months and while he’s still recovering and gaining his strength back, he had asked his parents to bring his laptop to the hospital. apparently, he’s been in a coma for around six months and a few weeks ever since he came to the game and promised to try and find everyone’s loved ones if they give him a list of names.

as news of this spread throughout the guild and beyond, more players met up in front of the dungeon following taeyong’s instructions. each one was equipped with the best armor and weapons and had leveled up diligently. who knows what will happen if they actually died in game? the thought made doyoung shudder.

with the help of everyone, doyoung leveled up in order to catch up with everyone. it took weeks as the higher his level is, the harder it is to level up. but roughly two months after, doyoung was the right level. they had agreed that johnny will go first. after taeyong, he had been in the game the longest. next is yuta and lastly, doyoung.

it was difficult to grind past the levels in the dungeon. it was tedious and the amount of aggro monsters with high levels are also increasing. thankfully, doyoung had stocked up with a lot of high quality potions in order to depend less on the others. everyone’s excited to go  home and he had to remind them that they had to do this exactly the way taeyong instructed. no one will die until the dungeon boss battle and that means they keep their impatience in check.

they successfully send johnny home. and the next day, yuta follows. but not before he winks at doyoung before slipping inside the glitch. it’s a bittersweet farewell. but he has faith that they’ll be able to see each other again once they all wake up from the coma. taeyong had successfully contacted everyone’s families and notified them to take extra care and attention since their sons are coming home.

doyoung couldn’t wait to get home, honestly. he wonders how much his parents will scold him and how ugly his brother would look when he cried. it was the only reason why he kept going even if it was more difficult now that there’s only him, ten and jaehyun left. 

what saddened him was seeing ten look so lifeless. he only did things without speaking much. as if he’s on auto pilot. when doyoung would ask him if he’s alright or if he needed to talk, he’d perk up on purpose and tell him that it’s so uncharacteristic of him to care about him. then they’d have a small little banter going on, not really talking about what was really going on.

he’s heart broken. 

one time doyoung heard a couple gush over beautifully crafted silver necklaces in the form of a sun and moon saying that elves only fall in love once. and they’re glad that they fell in love with each other. he quickly cringed back then and looked away but he wonders if ten will ever smile again the way he smiled when taeyong was around.

“he had to do it to make sure it’s not just luck,” ten had told him before they set off to the dungeon for the last time to send doyoung off. “he wanted to help everyone and i’m sure he’s happy to be reunited with family.”

only the three of them remain and doyoung feels himself getting impatient. but he tells himself over and over again that he’s closer than ever before to going back home. however, he didn’t want to push everyone to the point of exhaustion so they camp at a safe zone two levels before the boss level.

after having dinner, ten is the first to turn in. doyoung feels sorry for being too much of a burden on him and jaehyun. after all, he’s the one with the lowest level.so in order to make up for it, he volunteered to cook as well as taking the first watch. although it is a safe zone, there might be rogue players or bandits. they didn’t want to risk it. however, he didn’t expect jaehyun to do it with him.

“you’re clearly sleepy,” doyoung says, glancing at jaehyun who sits beside him.

“sleepy, me? never,” jaehyun answers mid yawn. “that’s just you projecting your sleepiness unto me. how about you roll on over there with them and sleep?”

snorting, doyoung throws a small stone at jaehyun which makes the other laugh.

“so this is it, huh,” jaehyun says, poking a stick against the fire. “how do you feel?”

“weird, but excited. how about you?”

“me? i feel great.”

he doesn’t sound all too enthusiastic about this, doyoung notices. it’s been bugging him for months and there were occasions in which he wanted to confront jaehyun but he’d always avoid him or someone would say they should work on leveling up. 

“why don’t you sound like you feel great? it’s been like this since… since we talked in the kitchen,” doyoung says, looking at jaehyun to see if he’ll get any clue as to why he’s acting odd.

jaehyun waves a hand dismissively, hugging his knees to his chest. “why does it matter? you’re leaving anyways.”

“it matters  _ because  _ i’m leaving, idiot.” doyoung rolls his eyes, sighing. “just tell me so we can talk and i can apologize. did i say or do anything wrong?”

jaehyun shakes his head.

“then what is it? out with it, jaehyun.”

“i’ve fallen in love with you,” jaehyun answers quietly.

it’s quiet for a bit, jaehyun’s words hanging heavily in the air. doyoung really doesn’t know how to react but his body does it for him. his face feels hot again, heart hammering inside his chest. 

“why?” he asks quietly, now looking down at his feet.

“because you’re unexpectedly warm. when you laugh, you laugh with your whole body. you’re witty and you make me laugh even if you use words i don’t know. since you came here, waking up feels like a new adventure. even doing something as mundane as wiping the table with you feels fun.” jaehyun rests his forehead against doyoung’s shoulder, closing his eyes. “i tried not to, knowing you don’t belong here. but the more i did, the more i felt my feelings grow. i’m sorry.”

all the times jaehyun took care of him and kept him company came rushing back. their small bickering moments and the times when jaehyun would suddenly hug him because he’s so happy and excited they won at beer pong (doyoung taught them). and then, the moment when they first met in the church and when jaehyun first held his hand. the times after that when their fingers brushed against each other and doyoung tried to ignore the tingle that shot through his body just from that.

“i can’t believe you,” doyoung says gently, resigning himself to the undeniable truth. “and i’m sorry to leave you but i-- i have to go back, jaehyun.”

“i know you do. like i belong here, you belong over there.” jaehyun reaches out, lacing their fingers together and tightening his grip as they held hands. “i’m not expecting you to give up your life. i only ask that tonight you let me stay with you before i need to send you off.”

closing his eyes, doyoung leans his head against jaehyun’s, nodding. “okay.”

after a good night’s rest, the party powers through the last two levels before reaching the boss. the dungeon boss takes on a form of what looked like an ogre with sharp horns and teeth. he’s also three times bigger than each of them and wields an axe. he has a menacing aura with red eyes glowing and once they step closer to him, he roars, the sound echoing in the floor.

“let’s get doyoung home!” ten shouts, grinning at jaehyun and doyoung.

“let’s go!” jaehyun shouts, grinning at doyoung.

and so the battle started.

the boss had a couple of aoe moves, afflicting damage to all of them if they did not move from the targeted spot. doyoung’s hit a few times, dealing a significant amount of damage on his hp which he quickly recovers by drinking his position. ten also uses one of his moves to help him recover. the most damage dealt to the boss is when jaehyun uses his special move which cuts off twenty percent of his hp however taking away a significant amount of his mp.

ten, on the other hand, charges without hesitation. his quick attack moves doesn’t deal as much damage as jaehyun but because of this, they interrupt the boss from using his aoe attach which deals the worst damage.

“doyoung!” jaehyun shouts, running away from a couple of rocks thrown at them. “i see it!” 

doyoung stops from attacking, looking at where jaehyun was pointing. his eyes widen and he nods, quickly running to stand beside him. there’s not much time. they’re close to halving the boss’ hp but he wants to say and do something before he leaves. he doesn’t want to leave jaehyun feeling like ten. it was too cruel.

“i’ll find you again,” doyoung says to jaehyun, shooting three arrows at once towards the boss. sweat running down his forehead, he looks at jaehyun and gives him a wide smile. “i promise.”

doyoung doesn’t make promises often so he makes this one count.

jaehyun smiles, showing off the dimples that made doyoung’s heart skip a beat painfully. “okay.” 

smiling wider, doyoung plants a soft kiss against jaehyun’s cheek. “ten, distract him!” he yells out.

ten looks at doyoung, notices the glitch and nods. with the last bit of his mp, he takes out his biggest gun and shoots at the ogre. using the time that was given to him, doyoung sprints towards the glitch and dodges the rocks flung at him at the last second without looking back.

**\- two months after -**

doyoung gasps.

with a shock that goes through his body, he sits up with eyes wide with his chest heaving as he tries to inhale and exhale as much air as he could. while he does so, he takes a look around his surroundings. 

he’s in the hospital. he takes note of the colorful flowers and balloons with ‘get well soon’ written on them with different fonts. he looks at his hands and then pushes the covers off of his body to reveal that instead of armor, he’s wearing a normal hospital gown.

he’s home.

the door opens, people talking right before they see him up. squinting, doyoung sees his family briefly before he’s hugged by his mother. tears he’s been holding back for months well up in his eyes and fall, arms wrapping around the older woman’s body. his father stands and watches, patting his head gently while his brother cries uncontrollably. 

he’s home.

they ask him how he’s feeling and he feels a bit sluggish and weak so they ask him to lie down and rest. nurses and his doctor soon come around to perform a check. he’ll need a few more days in the hospital before he can go home and they’ll monitor him closely.

due to exhaustion, doyoung simply sleeps. he wakes up in between to see his mother entertaining friends. he sees taeil, looking very guilty for having lent him the game in the first place before his vision turns black. doyoung makes a mental note to visit him and tell him not to feel sorry. 

everything feels like a dream. 

doyoung finds himself dreaming and waking up back in his room in aker. he hears the distant calls of the sellers from outside his window as well as the bickering from downstairs. sometimes he dreams of jaehyun and in these dreams they are holding hands and laughing. he doesn’t know where they are but at this point, it doesn’t matter.

one day, neozone comes to visit.

“they said they’re neozone. should i let them in, honey?” his mother asks.

doyoung nods fervently, sitting up and running his fingers through his bed hair. he didn’t think they’d visit him and he feels a surge of excitement and happiness.

taeyong is the first to enter, followed by johnny and yuta. they all gather him in a group hug and suddenly his room is loud and lively, much like the inn where they spent most of their days. 

johnny and yuta leave first and taeyong chooses to stay a bit more. apparently he has something to tell doyoung. 

“the game...is gone. and for real this time,” taeyong tells doyoung.

he feels like throwing up, chest constricting.

“but before it disappeared, jaehyun told me to tell you that… he doesn’t regret anything. and he’s thankful for having met you.”

“is he okay?” doyoung asks, clutching his sheets in his hand. he didn’t even notice but tears were falling down his hands. “do you think they’re okay?”

taeyong nods, patting him on the back. “they will be. ten’s there with him. although the game...is gone. they forever exist in our memories.”

the older sounds as if he’s convincing himself more than doyoung. but he doesn’t complain. they simply sit in silence, recalling the memories they’ve made and most of all, the people they loved.

this is for the best.

he’s home.

**\- a year after -**

everything is back to normal. a magi’s tale is nothing more than an urban legend passed on in the gaming community. but there are people who remember. neozone quickly become friends in the real world as well. they still play games but not anything that is found in a mysterious email sent to a bunch of people.

doyoung finds comfort in knowing that they have all experienced what he did. as time passes, he isn’t sure whether or not everything had been real in the first place. what if it was all just a dream they all had whilst in a coma? 

it would mean jaehyun isn’t real either and it makes him feel like throwing up again.

the only way doyoung can still remember is by writing. he writes everything that happened in a notebook in vivid detail. so he doesn’t forget. especially jaehyun. the others help him too. they even tell him stories before he and jaehyun saw each other. it’s bittersweet but he knows this is how things should be.

although taeyong advised against it, doyoung tries to find somewhere he can download the game again. apparently, the government had performed a massive wipe of every single device connected to the game. his parents had helped to turn in his laptop and erase everything, much to doyoung’s dismay. but he doesn’t give up.

it’s been a year since then. 

neozone meets up every other month at kun’s family restaurant. he’s every bit how taeyong describes him to be. although the game is the biggest part of how they got to know each other, doyoung’s come to see them as family. they talk about work, university and every day things. they would also offer toasts to the friends they had in the game and will remember forever.

only doyoung hasn’t given up.

it’s a starry night outside and doyoung walks to the park in his subdivision, sitting on the swing. it’s wishful thinking, but doyoung thinks that jaehyun is looking at the same sky too. no matter where they are or what they’re doing, they’re still under the same sky, right?

he’s lost in thought when suddenly, he feels something hard hit his back.

turning around, he looks at the ground and sees a baseball. whoever threw this at him is about to get it. he picks it up, laughing. “yah, aren’t you supposed to say sorry--”

“sorry!” 

doyoung stills.

that voice…

“jeno threw it way too far. yah, lee jeno! come over here and apologize.”

doyoung looks up slowly and gasps, dropping the baseball from his hands. 

quickly, he picks it up just as the other does, their heads bumping. the man laughs, rubbing his forehead sheepishly. “sorry about that.”

another boy approaches them and continuously apologizes. he reminds doyoung of a cat. doyoung mutters an ‘it’s okay’ robotically, eyes fixated on the man in front of him.

“i’m jaehyun, by the way. what’s your name? oh, and would you like to join us? jeno would love to play with someone new.”

his heart swells and he feels tears building up on the corners of his eyes.

_ sneaky little bastard. you found me first. _

“i’m doyoung. and sure, i’d love to.”


End file.
